So I first heard about this book back in August, and when I got my new library card it was the first book I requested for inter-library loan. That wasSo I first heard about this book back in August, and when I got my new library card it was the first book I requested for inter-library loan. That was early September, and I only got the book on November 12th, and there are still people waiting in line for it! I read the first 147 pages in fits and starts, thanks to having to work the day I got the book. However, once the Hunger Games actually started (page 148), I sat down and couldn't bear to set the book down. It's a book that had me audibly gasping and cheering - driving my fiance up a wall while I was at it.

Suzanne Collins has created a fantastic world here - we are given details describing Katniss' life and the country of Panem as needed, so there's no awkwardly long passages of exposition to catch us up on the world. It is simultaneously familiar (the idea of barren wastelands and people living in resource-poor areas are all too common in real life and in literature) and yet horrifyingly different (a government keeping its citizens in line by forcing them to sacrifice children to battle to the death for the rest of the country's entertainment).

Many people have brought up that this isn't a wholly original book - it has bits of "The Lottery" and "Battle Royale" and even "Survivor" sprinkled in. But what makes this story fantastic and feel utterly original and compelling is the combination of those familiar elements, and the excellent characters Collins has created. I utterly enjoyed being in Katniss' head for almost 400 pages; she is bitter, she is cynical, but she is also incredibly smart, resourceful and caring. She takes risks constantly, and it's that quality that has kept her and her family alive, both in the Seam of District 12 and in the Hunger Games themselves. Accompanying Katniss are a cast of colorful characters, from Peetra, her fellow tribute from District 12 in the Hunger Games, to the variety of people who help prepare her for the Games themselves. Everyone is distinct (well, except the three women in charge of making Katniss "presentable" via an extreme makeover, but I have a feeling that was intentional).

I was completely incoherent when I finished the book. In fact, when I reached the last page and discovered this was merely the first book in a trilogy, all I could do was drop the book and have a minor freak out because I wasn't ready for the story to be over! Waiting for the second book is going to be painful - I have absolutely no clue what is going to happen next and already I'm going crazy - but if it's half as good as this book was, it'll be worth the wait!...more

The alt-text for two stars here on Goodreads says that a ranking of two stars means "it was ok," and that sums up my feelings about The Other Side ofThe alt-text for two stars here on Goodreads says that a ranking of two stars means "it was ok," and that sums up my feelings about The Other Side of the Island. It's certainly not a bad book, not even a bad contribution to environmental-disaster-dystopian fiction for young adults, but "okay" is about the most enthusiasm I can muster, considering the questions I was left with and overall lack of excitement throughout the book.

There are some good subtle touches in the book - I like how references to the censored Wizard of Oz were slipped in before the extent of the censorship was fully explained (right when I was ready to get very angry at the author for mixing up a basic but fundamental difference between the book and the film). And it was definitely interesting to see a book where it's the child who wants to conform while the parents are trying to subvert the government, while most YA books feature the opposite.

After loving Life as we Knew It immensely, I was very, very excited about this book. Especially since I'm now living in New York, I wanted to know howAfter loving Life as we Knew It immensely, I was very, very excited about this book. Especially since I'm now living in New York, I wanted to know how other places had fared after the big disaster. However, it wasn't until near the very end that I was nearly as drawn into this book as I was with Life as we Knew It. I felt like the author couldn't find a good compromise between making this book accessible to those who hadn't read the first one, and keeping the book interesting for vested fans. For the first half of the book or so, the danger never felt as high or as real as it had for Miranda's family in the first book.

This was, however, still thoroughly enjoyable. Alex and his sisters, while living in the same country as Miranda and her family, has a very different experience surviving the catastrophe, which was great to read about. The beginning felt a little unbalanced, but once the author hit her stride, it was a great read the rest of the way through....more

An overall enjoyable book that had some holes and left a lot of questions unanswered - hopefully they'll be covered in the sequel.

I enjoyed the fast pAn overall enjoyable book that had some holes and left a lot of questions unanswered - hopefully they'll be covered in the sequel.

I enjoyed the fast pace, though sometimes I felt that the plot was moving too quickly to allow any suspense to build. Mara's a good character, and I loved that she wondered why no women were among the great thinkers of history, or that there were no Grand Mothers among the top ranks of New Mungo (there are only Grand Fathers - if there are any women among those ranks, they are also referred to as Fathers)....more

Wow. I could not put this book down. This book is absolutely heart-wrenching, and a real page-turner. While logically I find some problems with the foWow. I could not put this book down. This book is absolutely heart-wrenching, and a real page-turner. While logically I find some problems with the format (few diarists I know transcribe full conversations. And I know when I'm tired and hungry, my blog entries get shorter and less coherent, not longer and more dramatic. and my version of tired and hungry isn't anything close to what's described her), they weren't nearly enough to keep me from LOVING this book and starting in right away on the sequel....more

An interesting world that's ultimately bogged down by too many happy coincidences and overwrought love triangles.

The idea of the Bane is terrifying -An interesting world that's ultimately bogged down by too many happy coincidences and overwrought love triangles.

The idea of the Bane is terrifying - an even more mindless version of the Borg from Star Trek. Like so many apocalypses, this one was caused by our own hubris, the idea that we can play God without deadly repercussions.

But from there, the story is bogged down by sloppy writing and the aforementioned love triangle. The Bane always attack in the exact same way, and no matter how many times metal fingers closed around Eve's throat, she never thought to try to defend such a vulnerable place (not that she even gets a hoarse voice from all the abuse her poor esophagus takes). And once the truth behind Eve's incredible endurance is revealed, the injuries she takes become borderline absurd. Really, in five years of dangerous work in the wilderness the girl never got so much as a scrape that would heal so fast as to raise questions?

The love triangle takes center stage for long chunks of the story, stopping the post-apocalyptic action-adventure in its tracks. So much so that the final climax feels very rushed. Less kissing, more fighting cybernetic zombies please!

And yet with all of that, I still give this three stars. Primarily because this is the opening to a trilogy that actually feels like a complete story. There are a few hints at what the next installment could pick up, but I happily don't think I could predict what will happen next (aside from probably more kissing. Hopefully all with one guy, but I don't think I'll hold my breath for that one). While chunks of this review can be written off as just not my style, the solid ending is objectively good....more

I was hooked from page 2, when the AI that has "saved the world" by blowing up cities as an incentive for humans to stop blowing up each other, askedI was hooked from page 2, when the AI that has "saved the world" by blowing up cities as an incentive for humans to stop blowing up each other, asked why the humans were surprised he had taken over. "Did we learn nothing from The Terminator, people?" he asks. "Did we learn nothing from HAL?"

Greta takes a great turn as the reluctant heroine, a dystopian protagonist in the vein of Tally Youngblood rather than Katniss Everdeen. When Greta figures out the world isn't nearly as fair and just as she had been raised to believe, the action kicks into gear and doesn't let up until the surprising conclusion. The Scorpion Rules will make you question to what lengths can we go to avoid war, how to be an effective leader, and even what it means to be human....more